President Obama has come under a lot of fire in recent days. Stern words at the CBC dinner and criticism for his administration’s aggressive immigration sting operation spell out the hot button topics but nothing’s as quite as unique his opposition from Tavis Smiley and Cornel West. Theoretical founders of the “I Hate Barack Obama” fan club, Tavis appears to have stonewalled the President from day one while West has gone so far as to team up with Ralph Nader to potentially unseat the president in 2012. Amidst the storm of criticism, the media presents very few voices in support of the 44th president – particularly from the AA community. But not today: Project Islamic Hope’s director Najee Ali wants to put an end to all that. On Thursday, September, 29. Ali and company plan to stage a demonstration outside the ‘Smiley and West Radio Station’ in solidarity with Obama, and against the duo’s ‘counterproductive’ tactics. His compelling call to action is as follows:

“Tavis Smiley has been a critic of President Obama from the onset of his historic election and now Dr. Cornel West is leading a grassroots online community known as the New Progressive Alliance (NPA) in an effort to name a candidate as a primary challenger to President Obama. West has also teamed with consumer advocate Ralph Nader to help bring down President Obama.

Dr. West has every right to support who he wants to for President. But so do we. Dr. West and his attacks on President Obama do not reflect the opinions of the … majority of African Americans. So we cant allow Black leadership to front off our President.

If President Obama is not re-elected then the alternative will be much worse for African Americans. The Tea Party and the Republican party don’t care about African Americans or the issues that are important to us!

Stop Dr. Cornel West from helping to put us back on the plantation and send him a message that we support the President and not the viewpoint of West and Nader.

Remember back to 2000, when Nader himself ran as a third-party candidate? It’s important to remember what happens when Nader gets involved in challenging a Democrat. In 2000, he siphoned enough votes from Al Gore in Florida to swing the election to President Bush. It gave us eight years of Bush-Cheney politics and policies!

If West were being honest he would understand that 2000 was an example of what the consequences can be for the country.

A primary challenge could further divide the party and possibly dampen Democratic enthusiasm. These races could erode our ability to reach swing voters, who are crucial to electoral viability, by forcing candidates to draw a sharper contrast on issues than necessary to win an election.

By running as an independent and drawing votes in Florida that might otherwise have gone to Gore, Nader helped usher in eight of the worst years our country has ever seen. The fact that West would join forces with Nader can and should not go unchallenged. President Obama is not perfect. But the alternative will harm African Americans and the nation deeply. Lets tell West, and Tavis, how we really feel.”

An interesting turn for the Poverty in America Tour originators, as this rally places them on the opposite side of the protest sign. It will be interesting to hear the response, if any, Cornel West & Tavis Smiley, to such an absolute show of support for their apparent nemesis – Barack Obama.

Najee Ali’s effort to have Obama’s back goes down at 4434 Crenshaw Blvd in LA from 12pm-1pm PST.

This sums it up “against the duo’s ‘counterproductive’ tactics”.
Counterproductive to what? I think their argument is that there’s “no productivity”. Black Obama supportors say ‘you can’t expect him to do something for blacks alone”. Well, gays, Hispanics and Jews expect that! Then they say “you have to give him time”. Time for what? I haven’t even heard what’s on the table for Black America. What’s our intiatives? There’s a possibility the show will be over this term. And beyond the shadow of any doubt, “absolutely nothing” was on the table for Black America in his first and possibly last term, but all of a sudden something will be on the table specifically for us next term?

Now someone will comment, “he can’t do anything specifically for Black People” (thought that doesn’t seem to be the case for other groups). Well, if he can’t do nothing “specifically” for Black People what makes him different than any other President?